Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
“I’m buying it,” I tell her. “I’m buying it and giving it to you. You’ll be the boss soon.”
“That won’t work for me. In fact, if you do that, I’ll quit.”
“And maybe wherever you find a new job, I’ll buy that company and give it to you, too,” I warn.
“Why?” she asks, looking absolutely bewildered.
“I’m a goal-oriented man. I’m simply working toward a goal right now.”
“And what goal is that? To ruin my life? To end my relationship? To exert your power and money so much it steals my sanity and I wind up just as mad as you are?”
I shake my head in dismay. “Baby, baby, baby. You’ve got it all wrong.”
She swallows hard, looking hurt.
I continue. “To make you happy, Chloe. To fulfill all your fantasies. So I get to watch you fall madly in love with me while I make every wish you have come true. The benefit to me being mad, as you put it, is that there’s nothing I won’t do to make sure I accomplish my goals.”
“I’m leaving,” she states. “You got what you wanted. Fucking with my head and my body, so I’m gonna go.”
“Take your soup.” I gesture to the unopened soup, then add, “And both donuts.”
“No, thank you.”
“Chloe. Take them.” I put it all into the paper bag with twine handles and hand it to her. “I insist.”
I’m mortified at my behavior. At how I responded to his words, his actions. Despite everything, the man knows how to light my libido on fire. And he’s so unpredictable. I never know if he’ll make me do something, if he’ll let me go without laying a finger on me, if he’ll show up in my bed, drop money in my account, threaten me, or say crazy things that make me feel so…
I shake that wistful thought off before it fully forms.
Because he’s unstable. He’s dangerous. He’s blackmailing me! When will things turn ugly? How ugly will they get? How do I get out of this? If I can’t, will I survive this?
It sounds morbid, but I’m terrified that this is going to be one of those tales where death for one of us is the only way out. Either he decides he’s done, and he ends me or it goes nuclear and ends with him being shot by the cops after he completely loses it. Or a murder/suicide. The guy is unhinged.
When I get outside, my heart drops as I see Alannah by the revolving door to the office building part of this complex. She’s talking to Jeffy, who’s smoking a cigarette.
I glance over my shoulder while on the move and see Derek standing at the glass door. Watching.
And as my eyes bounce back straight ahead, one look at my best friend and our good friend fills me with alarm. Because they’re not hiding anything. They’re both looking at me with concern as their eyes bounce past me, undoubtedly clocking that Derek is still watching.
Jeffy clears his expression immediately but it’s all over Alannah’s face as she shoots Derek stink-eye.
Fuck. Fuck!
Clearing her expression too late tells me everything I need to know. I’m almost certain I’ve just caught the two of them having a conversation about me. I’m just hoping Derek hasn’t read them as well as I have. But unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like much gets past Derek. He might be nuts, but he’s not dumb.
“Hey,” Alannah greets and hugs me. “Why are you here?”
I pull back and look her dead in the eyes. She reads me loud and clear. Flinching, she whispers, “We’re worried about you. I know something’s up. Asked Jeffy about you-know-who and he told me things that would make your blood curdle. That was a fake text that day, wasn’t it?”
“Don’t give it away, he’s watching,” Jeffy says in a singsong voice. “Smile as you pull away, Alannah.”
I let go of her.
“Honey,” Jeffy says with a sweet smile as he opens his arms for me to come in for a hug. When he gets his mouth near my ear, he says low and serious, “He’s very dangerous. I know who that family is, know a lot of details. Facts. Some blood-curdling rumors from credible sources. Please, please be careful, sweets.” He loosens his grip and plasters on a big smile. “Don’t you look pretty today!”
“Thanks,” I say, tucking a loose lock behind my ear. I know my hair looks like I was just fucked, but I didn’t care much about anything other than getting out of there.
Jeffy keeps talking without losing the smile. “His family is very powerful and most of the Steele brothers have a reputation. A severe one. I know someone on their legal team quite well.”
I plaster on a smile as I pull back and look to Alannah. “Totally,” I say.
She picks up on the double meaning.